What side do you sit on?

[phoenixpete]

I know, bit of a strange question

I have noticed most people seem to sit on the starboard or right hand side of their sibs. It does seem as if the engines were more or less designed for that as the tiller is further away/more comfortable. when we went out I started off like this but I find it doesn't seem right to me, the throttle in the left hand is not natural ( re. motorbike days ) and twisting it for "go" is the wrong way round.

I tried sitting on the port side and allthough the tiller is a bit close to me I find it much more natural.
When sitting on the starboard side I found I really had to think about which way the throttle went and did it wrong a few times.

Does anyone else sit on the port side?

One more thing, do you allways sit on the tubes or do you sit on the floor if going fast or sibing in the rough?

Sib is Bombard 380 Aerotec by the way

Pete.

[Max...]

Comes up now and again;

http://www.rib.net/forum/f50/which-s...-on-31605.html

http://www.rib.net/forum/f50/which-s...ler-41436.html

For me starboard is correct, throttle turns the right way (like motorbike) and control is better. I think the RNLI always drive this way. Also the gear shift is on that side and it leaves the right hand free for other tasks like holding on!

I sit on tubes or if rough kneel on the floor.

Re throttle, doesn't your Merc engine if viewing tiller end on twist anticlockwise for go?? If so surely if on port this would be the wrong way compared to a motorbike.

[Mollers]

I always sit to port to steer with my right arm.

[Fenlander]

I always sit to starboard. I've not yet used an inflatable wide enough for sitting to port to feel right, the outboard tiller seems to be pushing your balance out of the boat or catching your knees if sitting to port and doing a starboard turn.

Sitting to starboard means your posture is naturally leaning slightly into the boat which feels balanced. Also the gear lever on all the outboars of my formative years was on the starboard side so that added to the logic of a startboard position.

If you have a starboard seating position on the tube and it suddenly gets bumpy you can smoothly move to kneel just off centre of the floor in front of the outboard while keeping the left hand on the tiller. If you are sitting to port with right hand on the tiller and do this you end up with you arm behind your back and poor control.


Edit: Just noticed OP asks about sitting on the floor.

I never do as visibility over the bow is poor, kneeling as mentioned above is my choice if it's very very rough. Of course I always assemble my sib with two seats so my normal helm position is actually astride the rear seat with backside just over where it hooks on the tube. So if it's moderately bumpy I just slide more towards the centre of the seat.

The kneeling on the floor time is only in the "will I get through this" extremes or if I've not fitted the seat for some reason.

Anyway that's just how I find it, like folding/not folding your inflatable for storage or running on 50 or 100 to 1, just do what suits you.

[John Kennett]

Originally Posted by Mollers

I always sit to port to steer with my right arm.

Same here. I've tried it the other way round and it just doesn't work for me.

[Max...]

willk made a great post on one of those older topics linked above:

Originally Posted by willk

oh for God's sake, what side do we sit on.....yada yada yada, here:

I sit on the right side
Codprawn sits on the traditional side
Polwart sits on the other side
JSP sits a Little Bit on the Side
Bigmuz7 sits on the smart a-side
Bam Bam sits on the river side
Limey Linda sits on the far side
Bogib sits on de Northside (inside Irish gag )
His Administratorship, John Kennett, doesn't take sides
and Mollers sits on the Dark Side.

[Nos4r2]

And I've been known to lie full length in the middle

[phoenixpete]

Thanks for all the replies guy's, I even like the funny one's

I think I may try the starboard side again but I dought it will suit me.
My gears are incorporated into the throttle so that is no concern, but as pointed out I will not be able to see the engine cooling water coming out.

I just checked which way the throttle works and it does ( when sat port side )
work the opposite way than I thought to increase you turn away from you, which is the opposite to what would be normal on a bike

So it seems I don't even know what I am doing, but it seems to work

P.S.
Thanks for the links to the previous discussions on the subject

[ncp]

I've always sat to port. That's where the footstraps are bolted into the floor!

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arancia-class_lifeboat

[frankc]

Due to prop rotation, sitting on the right side is correct to balance out the lifting force from the prop. That is the normal steering position for a power boat.

[Locozodiac]

Tiller confort will depend entirely if being a right or left handed boater, if having a wide sib-rib needing a center console, in that particular case port side is nearer tiller. I drive sitting at stardboard side on top a custom air deck and next to transom for long boating hours.

One importat issue nobody takes into account when selecting port side, is that on most engines water pee port is located at left side of engine. If you boat on kelpy, polluted, garbage seas and engine sucks in any forein material sealing lower water intakes will experimeent an engine overheat. Be prepared to see a severe smoking engine when at wot . That's why is mandatory to sit stardboard to check from time to time pee water indicator.

Happy Boating

[ncp]

Originally Posted by frankc

Due to prop rotation, sitting on the right side is correct to balance out the lifting force from the prop. That is the normal steering position for a power boat.

Originally Posted by Locozodiac

That's why is mandatory to sit stardboard to check from time to time pee water indicator.

Ok, you guys are pretty certain that the correct side to sit on is to the starboard.

Like I said in my post, in my Arancia 3.77m sib, they put the footstraps in so that the driver is to port and the crew is to starboard. Any idea why they did this? (as you know there are hundreds, if not more, of this size sib made for surf lifesaving from Zodiac, Arancia, Metzler (sp? they used to have these in SA in the 80's, etc.).

Just asking, not trying to say anyone is wrong here!

[Mollers]

No right nor wrong about it. A twitch of the bum cheek will tr a sib, ;-)

[Dhf]

Originally Posted by ncp

Like I said in my post, in my Arancia 3.77m sib, they put the footstraps in so that the driver is to port and the crew is to starboard. Any idea why they did this?

Just asking, not trying to say anyone is wrong here!

That would be because all items produced worldwide are designed for 'righties' not 'lefties' I'll bet most that helm from Starboard are lefties, that's from a lefties point of view.

[mister p]

I'm right handed and helm from starboard with my left hand. This on the Zody and space can be as much of a reason as correctness. On the ILB SIB helping was from starboard and space was not the reason.

[Max...]

We've all got different ideas but at the end of the day try both sides a few times in different circumstances and stick with which feels best. For me (right handed) it has to be starboard and the *main* factor was the throttle rotation direction being the same as a motorbike, the other way just felt so odd. There's no 100% official rule.

[Mollers]

'TRim a sib' from my last phone generated post.

[frankc]

Get a motor with a left hand prop and sitting to port would be correct. You will not find many left handed rotating motors except large motors made for twin installation. Prop torque lifts the right side of the boat, so if everything were loaded on the center, it would be obvious by the craft leaning to the left. And no, most of my friends and myself are right handed. Been running outboards for about 60 years, so this is not green behind the ears talk.

Get into a narrow beam boat and try to run the motor from the left side of the boat. It will not take more than once to see that you made a mistake, especially if you make a sharp turn. Prop torque plus a turn will put you upside down before you can say oops.

Notice that the tiler is mounted on the left side of the motors. That is for a reason.

It is simple physics.

[Nick Hearne]

Port side for me, right hand for the tiller, works for me

[lightning]

I cannot get on with sitting on the starboard tube, as it it too much of a stretch to the tiller with my short arms particularly when turning to port.
Also it seems unnatural to operate the throttle with my left hand.
So I sit on the port side tube, although this means a bit of a stretch to the gear shift lever.

I did see a small 10hp outboard on a boat once with the gear shift on the tiller, which would be great, but have never seen one for sale or been able to find one.